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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24994069">daughters of elysium</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/softshocks/pseuds/softshocks'>softshocks</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Dreamcatcher (Korea Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/F, Neon Genesis Evangelion AU, You don’t need to watch the anime</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 02:08:06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,172</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24994069</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/softshocks/pseuds/softshocks</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>She shoulders half the weight that Bora carries, both at the bridge and in the quiet of their room when they need R&amp;R. </p><p>Bora loves her, has always loved her, even before all of this happened. Finding each other again felt like fate, like another chance and Bora takes it in her hands, gripping it tightly, unwilling to let it go. </p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kim Bora | SuA/Kim Minji | JiU</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>74</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Director's Cut Fest Round 1</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>daughters of elysium</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Please support my dreamcatcher x evangelion agenda, with siyeon singing <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhqRSzKZ_pY">cruel angel’s thesis</a> </p><p>As usual, this is me putting my very different interests together and trying to make it work. No need to watch the anime to understand the fic :) I took out everything I hated about evangelion and said "my city now!", idk hideaki anno! </p><p>Art by @limeariee + source tweet, check their art out <a href="https://twitter.com/technoplastics/status/1288654229310078976?s=20">here!</a></p><p>TY to citrusflower for looking through this &lt;3 Rating/warning for evangelion canon-typical violence. Title is from beethoven's symphony no. 9 which plays when kaworu was revealed to be the 17th angel</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The world has ended.</p><p>Or that’s what Bora thinks. That’s what it feels like. That’s what all her senses tell her. </p><p>Her eyes see the blaring redness of the overcast sky, heavy with fire and smoke and things she doesn’t know, doesn’t understand just yet. </p><p>The skin of the palm of her hand, clutching the crucifix her father had given her in the very last moments before he shoved her into the containment unit, breaks from the metal’s sharp edges, but it’s also because Bora grips it like her lifeline.</p><p>Her father. Bora’s mouth opens to scream, unbidden and raw - so raw it scratches her throat the same way the thick smoke does. “Dad?” She yells. Bora can barely hear herself because of the ringing in her ears. “<em>Dad</em>!” </p><p>Bora doesn’t know why she’s calling out to him. She knows he’s dead, knows she’s alone in the middle of Antarctica after what she thinks is the Second Impact. </p><p>The grief grips her heart. Bora slumps her body over the containment unit and waits.</p><p>Waits for what, she doesn’t know. Someone to save her. Death to take her. </p><p>She doesn’t know.</p><p>-</p><p>Bora doesn’t know what to expect on her first day at NERV. It’s one thing for her father to be known for his contributions to the Eva program, and it’s another to be the field commander for it. She might as well be wrestling with those goddamned angels with her own goddamned hands. </p><p>Not that Bora didn’t have the credentials for it. She was certainly their best pick. While she will admit that nepotism did what it had to do, it wasn’t like she was no one. </p><p>She’s Captain Kim Bora. Top of her class. Achieved so much more than average twenty-five year-olds. Now she was going to protect the world. </p><p>Her nerves are probably showing, and as the elevator takes her to the three-hundredth floor, Bora tugs at her red jacket and straightens her back with her chin held high, haughty, ready for this. </p><p>She anticipates being recognized. She anticipates knowing doubtful looks cast her way. She anticipates the intimidating technology that surrounds her, and the hustle and bustle of people who have done this for the past few years or even decades. This control room, where the action happens, is called <em>the bridge.</em></p><p>These barely move past her. What does take her by pure surprise is seeing Kim Minji again. </p><p>She’s much older, taller. Her blonde hair is tied in a tight ponytail, and it’s bright even under the shitty, government-issued lights of NERV HQ. She looks so sharp in her doctor’s coat, even sharper interpreting numbers on a massive screen for everyone surrounding her, all ears. Bora can’t even begin to think about what they mean. </p><p>Bora watches, enthralled, in awe. As much as she wanted to barrel into Minji, she definitely had to make an impression that was not crushing Minji into a tight embrace.</p><p>When the meeting disperses, she approaches Minji, calls out her name. The other girl turns to her, eyes wide then suddenly brimming with tears that Bora feels springing from her own.</p><p>“Minji,” she says, clutching at her doctor’s coat with a desperation she hasn’t felt since she clambered out of that containment unit back in Antarctica. Everyone is too busy to pay them any attention, but not that Bora cares. “You’re alive, you’re… you’re alive.” </p><p>“Yes,” Minji says, and Bora deduces that she may have anticipated Bora’s arrival at NERV. “They wouldn’t let me contact you. I’m sorry.” Her words are mumbled into Bora’s hair, but it does nothing to mute the impetuosity of her tone. </p><p>Bora knew that all too well. Sometimes they wouldn’t let her father contact her, when he was on confidential missions that Bora knows she will learn about in due time, given her status. She wasn’t just Dr. Kim’s kid anymore. </p><p>She was Captain Kim Bora. </p><p>Minji, the loveliest soul Bora has ever met, brings it up. “Look at you. Captain Kim. I should start saluting.” </p><p>Bora laughs, though her throat is still tight with tears. “Please don’t, unless you want me to call you Dr. Kim, too.” When Minji scrunches her nose, Bora wraps her arms around her again. </p><p>Maybe she’d been in love with Minji. Maybe Minji has been in love with her. At one point after the Second Impact, thinking Minji was dead and never having told her everything she did, back when they were younger and unafraid, was something that weighed so heavily on Bora’s shoulders. </p><p>-</p><p>She meets Yubin first. It makes sense because she’s the First Child. The information from the Marduk Institute, the organization that selects the Eva pilots, introduces her as such. </p><p>Minji stands beside her, and Bora admits being nervous, knowing this kid’s life is literally in her hands.  </p><p>“Go on, Yubin, say hi. She won’t bite.” She encourages, trying to lighten the mood as she always does. The kid looks barely a day over eighteen. There is an empty look in her eyes when the girl meets Bora’s, and Bora feels her heart lurch with pity. “We’re going to run some tests, okay? But you can stop us at any time if you feel bad.” </p><p>Yubin nods, and then she’s escorted to the room where they take a stream of blood tests and psychiatric stuff Bora doesn’t understand completely, but SEELE says it’s necessary. Yubin says nothing, accepts all of it. </p><p>“Jesus,” Bora says, sighing to try to rid her heart of the heaviness. The effort is futile and the feeling remains as she watches from behind the one-sided mirror. “She’s just a kid.” </p><p>Minji gives her a sad smile, looking down. “Yeah. But she’s not just any kid.”</p><p>Later, Bora finds out that she has a thousand more of Yubin’s lives in her hands. Copies of her. Bora throws up in the nearest bin, and Minji soothes her all the same, tells her she had the same reaction all those years ago.</p><p>“We’ll take care of her,” Minji promises, fiercely. There are tears in her eyes. “We’ll take care of all of them.” Bora knows she doesn’t just mean the copies of Yubin, but the rest of the pilots they haven’t met yet. </p><p>-</p><p>An Angel arrives. Its name is Shamsel, this time.</p><p>Yubin destroys it, almost perfectly, like they do in the simulation tests. Her sync with Unit-00 is perfect, and she listens to Bora’s instructions well. </p><p>Until the Angel pierces through Yubin’s Eva and impales it on the stomach. Her scream will haunt Bora for years to come. </p><p>“I’m sorry,” she says, at Yubin’s bedside. She’s fine, but she had bled quite a bit. </p><p>“It’s okay,” are Yubin’s first words to her, ever. “Captain Bora, it’s okay.” </p><p>It really isn't, and they both know it’s going to happen again. </p><p>Every time that it does, Bora and Minji don’t leave Yubin’s side. They also take Yubin out whatever she wants to eat, wherever she wants to go, whenever she recovers. </p><p>It’s poor comfort, but it’s all they have. </p><p>-</p><p>Things are getting heavier and it’s no surprise Bora seeks Minji for friendship, for love, for comfort. </p><p>She shoulders half the weight that Bora carries, both in the bridge of NERV and in the quiet of their room when they need R&amp;R. </p><p>Bora loves her, has always loved her, even before all of this happened. Finding each other again felt like fate, like another chance and Bora takes it in her hands, gripping it tightly, unwilling to let it go. </p><p>“I love you,” she tells Minji, over dinner she whipped up for both of them on a rare day off. “I always have.”</p><p>Minji says it back, kisses her. “I love you too,” she mumbles into Bora’s lips. “I never stopped.” </p><p>For a brief, sweet moment Bora forgets the doom that looms over them. </p><p>-</p><p>Another pilot selection document from the Marduk Institute arrives. </p><p>Lee Gahyeon. Second Child. Sixteen years of age. Daughter of the deceased Dr. Lee of Gehirn and the infamous General Lee of NERV. </p><p>She was here, in Tokyo-3, at NERV HQ, unwillingly, in a desperate attempt to earn back her father’s love. Bora, once again, feels pity for her. </p><p>They’d narrowly escaped the Angel in Bora’s car, and Gahyeon sat in Bora’s passenger seat - shy and brooding. </p><p>“You don’t want to be here, huh?” Bora says, noticing that any attempts to lighten the mood is flicked away. </p><p>“No,” Gahyeon replies simply, looking out the window. The sun is setting over Tokyo-3, and it’s always been one of Bora’s favorite views. “I hate my dad.” </p><p>Bora knows that. Minji had told her. It’s confirmed when another Angel’s AT field is detected on NERV’s radar, and they implore Gahyeon to get inside the Evangelion, else Yubin - in all her injured state from the last few Angels - would have to pilot Unit-00 again.</p><p>“<em>I hate you!” </em> Gahyeon screams, her voice echoing in the vast Eva docking area. It’s directed at her father, who appears nonplussed. <em> “Dad, I hate you!” </em></p><p>Gahyeon still does it, of course. With absolutely no training. But Bora’s heart leaps up her throat when Sachiel takes Unit-01 by the head and pierces a spear into its right eye and again, Gahyeon’s screams add to the list of things that keep Bora awake at night. </p><p>And when she thinks they’re going to lose Gahyeon on first day, something happens. </p><p>“Oh goodness,” Minji breathes, when the numbers go crazy on the screen in front of her. “Oh dear.” </p><p>Bora watches another, watches the Evangelion fight the Angel with Gahyeon passed out in the pilot seat. “It’s fucking berserk,” Bora exclaims, the realization like ice water on her skin. “It’s berserk! Is Gahyeon okay?” </p><p>Minji checks the levels and confirms that Gahyeon is alive but her vital signs are at a caution level. The whole ordeal finishes with the Angel defeated and several gashes on Unit-01. Gahyeon is wheeled to NERV’s intensive care unit. </p><p>“Was the Evangelion supposed to do that?” Bora asks Minji, over dinner. She struggles to maintain her candidness, but she just really wants some fucking answers right now. She knew what the Eva was made of, but she didn’t understand how it kept Gahyeon alive. </p><p>“Gahyeon’s unit is… special. And so is Unit-02.” Minji starts. “They were unharmed because they both have souls. Of their mothers. Inside the Eva unit. Had she not been there, the berserking unit made from the genetic material of Angels would have found her a threat and pulled her out, killing her.”</p><p>Bora leans back. “Jesus. Dr. Lee…” </p><p>“She was protecting Gahyeon. That’s why.” Minji isn’t done. “You know the Magi? The computer that runs everything.” </p><p>She nods her head. Minji knew it like the back of her hand, inside and outside. </p><p>“My mom fashioned it to her own consciousness.” She says, tapping the tops of the computer.</p><p>Bora pushes her food away, no longer feeling like finishing it. </p><p>-</p><p>“You’ll be okay taking Gahyeon in?” Minji asks, cuddling closer to her.</p><p>Bora shrugs, shooting the can of beer into the bin perfectly. “I don’t really have a choice.” Minji rolls her eyes, because Bora does, and her choice was to be Gahyeon’s legal guardian as instructed by NERV. “It would be nice to have a roommate.” </p><p>Minji kisses her cheek, and Bora sighs. She’d rather have Gahyeon with her than with General Lee, her father. </p><p>“I want her with me,” Bora says, truthfully. “General Lee was a shit father, abandoning her like that. No kid deserves to be reminded of that even more.”</p><p>“Agreed.”</p><p>-</p><p>“You are now her commander,” Gahyeon’s father tells her sternly. “And her legal guardian.” </p><p>It wasn’t a secret General Lee abandoned Gahyeon at a young age after her mother died in the contact experiment with Unit-01. </p><p>He was heartless, Bora had always thought. “Okay, I’ll take her in.” </p><p>He raises a brow at her. “Good. I thought you would have put up more of a fight, Captain Kim.” He says. “She will be difficult to work with because of me.”</p><p><em> No shit, </em>Bora thinks. Then she takes Gahyeon home. </p><p>It’s a small place, but it’s kept tidy. There’s an absurd amount of beer in the fridge but she chooses not to tell Gahyeon that yet. </p><p>“This is your room,” Bora tells her, sliding open the door. “Make yourself at home, yeah?” </p><p>When Gahyeon stands in the middle of the room, unmoving, looking absolutely terrified and out of place, Bora moves to stand in front of her. “Hey. Life is gonna get a bit crazy but I’m here to make sure you stay alive, okay?”</p><p>Gahyeon flinches at the hand Bora has on her shoulder, but she relaxes and nods anyway, and Bora promises to keep her safe even if it was the last thing she does. </p><p>-</p><p>It’s good, with Minji. They work extremely well together, and nothing has changed but everything has also changed. It feels like building off where they had left off. </p><p>At the bridge of NERV HQ, they operate like a well-oiled machine. Seamless. Efficient. Cutthroat. Bora listens to Minji’s interpretation of data, on the Angel, on the Pilot, on the environment. Bora keeps the pilot alive. </p><p>At home, they support each other. Heavy work, all of this. Always, it weighs on their shoulders. Sometimes it’s too much. </p><p>But Minji is always there to hold her, and Bora will die before letting anything happen to Minji. </p><p>-</p><p>Gahyeon is a good roommate, it seems. Even if she can be hard-headed on the field, she’s a good kid. She looks out for Yubin when they’re out there, and befriends her in a way that Yubin is comfortable.</p><p>She’s a good kid, even if she doesn’t follow Bora’s instructions. But she’s terribly quick-witted and too good, risking her life and Yubin’s to save Yoohyeon, a classmate of theirs that tends to be a permanent fixture in Bora’s home.</p><p>She smiles a lot when Minji is around, and Minji is absolutely smitten with Gahyeon, always bringing over snacks when she comes to visit Bora’s humble abode. </p><p>-</p><p>It’s Siyeon who arrives last, chosen by the Marduk Institute, and Bora doesn’t know what to make of her. She’s definitely capable, she definitely knows what to do. Being older than the two pilots has its perks.</p><p>She does, however, throw herself to protect Gahyeon. Mindlessly. She’s tougher than Yubin, maybe because of Yubin’s genetics, but it still has her in NERV’s ICU more often than not. </p><p>Siyeon moves in with them, in Bora’s quaint little home. Surprisingly, she’s easy to get along with. Absurdly funny, too, and she and Bora get along quite well. Gahyeon takes a liking to her, and Bora feels her heart squeeze in her chest when she sees them holding each other after each Angel they subdue. </p><p>“Why didn’t they choose you to pilot any of the Evas?” She asks Bora, one time where they split some of the better beer that Bora buys from the convenience store nearby. </p><p>Bora shrugs. The Marduk Institute has never released any guidelines for choosing the pilots. She does, however, have a hunch that it’s because of what makes Siyeon’s and Gahyeon’s units special. </p><p>Bora isn’t sure if she wants to tell Siyeon that. Siyeon’s never talked about it, but it’s obvious her relationship with her own mother was heavy in its own way. </p><p>As for her, Bora never met her mother. </p><p>“I think I was too old.” Bora lies, bleakly. </p><p>Siyeon laughs. “And making kids pilot a bunch of trillion-dollar cyborgs was the way to go.” </p><p>Bora joins her, laughing as well. “God, yeah. If I could be there instead of Gahyeon and Yubin and you, I would.” Oh, how she meant it. Had the Marduk Institute chosen her instead of these kids. </p><p>Siyeon only gives her a sad smile, and they drink the rest of their cans in silence as the sun sets over Tokyo-3. </p><p>-</p><p>“What do you think we’ll do when all of this is over?” Bora asks, sighing as Minji traces a pattern on her back, most likely tracing the scars from before, and chasing the way the light casts shadows across the dips and rises of Bora’s back. </p><p>“Mmm, I don’t know,” Minji says, kisses her shoulder blade with aching tenderness. “Maybe I’ll marry you.” </p><p>She rolls over to look at her girlfriend, just because she wants to. “You will, huh? I didn’t know you had plans.” </p><p>“Yup. Marry you,” replies Minji, simply. Unfazed. Not as if Bora hasn’t been thinking the same thing. Maybe after this whole mess where the world was ending, she can have this and this small family they have much longer. “Maybe we can take in all the Eva kids.”</p><p>“Yeah? I’d like that.” In a moment of tenderness, Bora sighs. “You know, try to be better than our parents. Their parents.” </p><p>-</p><p>Siyeon barges into the empty bridge of NERV, save for Bora, dressed in her pilot suit, and dripping with the liquid inside the Eva. Bora turns to say hello, but there is pure rage and anguish on Siyeon’s face that she has never seen before.</p><p>Next thing she knows, Bora’s back is against the wall, Siyeon fisting the lapels of Bora’s jacket. “Why the <em> fuck </em>didn’t you tell me my mother was in that thing, huh?” How fast Siyeon moved still has Bora in still-shock. “Why? Tell me!” </p><p>Bora is calm, even when Siyeon shakes and shakes her in the process. “She’s the one protecting you.” It won’t answer Siyeon’s question, but Bora hopes it’s enough. </p><p><em> Yeah, my mom was great, </em> Siyeon had told her and Minji one night. <em> It was just… really hard losing her. I felt like a part of me died too. </em></p><p>Siyeon crumples to the floor, and Bora holds her. The LCL makes her own hair damp, but she doesn’t care. She cradles Siyeon as she cries and cries and cries. </p><p>-</p><p>Siyeon’s sync rate with her Evangelion falls, and no one knows why. </p><p>It tears her apart, and Bora can see it in the way she fights desperately, in the way the dark circles under her eyes get darker each day. </p><p>“Where’s Siyeon?” Bora asks Yubin and Gahyeon, who only shrug. </p><p>Siyeon goes missing. </p><p>-</p><p>The Marduk Institute selects Yoohyeon as the fourth child, but the Eva is too much, yearns for Siyeon, and her sync level fails each time. </p><p>On her right arm is a gash from the sixteenth Angel, and it will haunt Bora to see it for a long time. </p><p>-</p><p>There’s a gentle knocking on Bora’s door, and she’s been a light sleeper since Siyeon went missing. “Come in, Gahyeon,” she says, rising to lean on her elbows. Minji is still fast asleep. </p><p>She looks so small, so young, and Bora scolds herself for sometimes forgetting that she’s just sixteen and carrying the weight of the world’s safety on her shoulders. In her hand, her favorite blanket is clutched in her fist. “I’m scared. And Siyeon is…” </p><p>It’s not a secret the two have formed a bond like no other. Siyeon had been a source of strength for Gahyeon - and for all of them. </p><p>Bora doesn’t miss a beat. She opens her arms, beckoning Gahyeon closer. “Over here, kiddo.” She only feels Gahyeon fitting right into her, and Minji shifts for Gahyeon in the middle. </p><p>“Gahyeon?” Minji says, rousing from her sleep. Gahyeon only snuggles closer to the two of them. “Mmm. Stay here.” </p><p>Gahyeon’s breathing is still labored from what Bora thinks was a nightmare or a panic episode, so she strokes Gahyeon’s hair and asks her where she wants to go next month for the holidays like she always does. </p><p>“Disneyland,” Gahyeon mumbles into Bora’s shirt. </p><p>That pulls a laugh from Bora. “Disneyland? Sea is much better.” When Gahyeon grumbles, she relents. “Okay. Disneyland. Then Disney Sea. I think Minji can get us extra special passes.” Minji taps her wrist in admonishment, but she snuggles closer to Gahyeon. </p><p>Gahyeon looks up. “You promise?” </p><p>“I promise.” She smiles even as her heart aches seeing Gahyeon’s eyes, shining with tears. “When have I ever broken my promises?” </p><p>The youngest pilot shakes her head. “We’ll bring Siyeon when she comes back. Yubin, too. And you can bring your schoolmates Yoohyeon and Handong.” That lifts Gahyeon’s spirits, and she huddles closer to them, her breathing almost back to normal, almost ready to sleep. </p><p>When Gahyeon’s soft snores fill the room, Bora presses her forehead to Minji’s, feeling pity, love, and a specific kind of rage that all of this is stealing so much from them. </p><p>It feels like a storm brewing, and she knows Minji feels it too. </p><p>-</p><p>They find Siyeon, whose sync levels with her Eva is still at an abysmal 0%.</p><p>They also find the fifth child. </p><p>Her name is Handong, and she has silver hair and red eyes. She’s already friends with Gahyeon, and her sync levels with Unit-02 is impeccable. She’s Yubin and Gahyeon’s classmate, apparently, but they do recall her having blonde hair and light brown eyes.</p><p>Bora doesn’t know, but behind Handong’s easy smile was something Bora couldn’t put a finger on. </p><p>-</p><p>On the way to the bridge, a hand pulls her to the side, and Bora almost takes them into a headlock until she realizes it’s Minji. </p><p>“Minji?” She says, seeing the distress plastered onto her face. She reaches up to touch her face. “What’s wrong?”</p><p>“Handong,” Minji replies, a little breathless. “It’s Handong.” </p><p>“What about her?” </p><p>Minji looks around and visibly swallows. “They put the essence of the Seventeenth Angel in her.” </p><p>Bora’s stomach drops. “So she’s…” </p><p>Nodding, somewhat frantically - the most disheveled Bora has ever seen Minji - Minji says yes. </p><p>Then the alarms go off. </p><p>Their legs take them to the bridge, so fast. Everyone is in panic, unsure what to do, as Handong descends the pipeline to the centermost core of the Earth. </p><p>Unit-01 is with her, and engaging in combat. She can hear their conversations, and Bora listens intently even as her heart beats madly in her chest. </p><p><em> “What are you doing, Handong?” </em> Gahyeon exclaims, and from the sound of it, she seems to be pushing the Eva’s dagger with no avail past Handong’s A.T. Field. “<em>An A.T. Field…” </em>Gahyeon realizes, but she pushes it even harder. </p><p>“<em>That’s what you call it, right,” </em> Handong says, painfully calm. “<em>The sacred space within you that no one else can violate. </em>” </p><p>“<em>I don’t know what you’re talking about! </em>” She tries to push the dagger deeper but to no avail. </p><p>The struggle doesn’t end in the next few minutes, hours, years, Bora doesn’t know. All she knows is that if Handong wants to, she can trigger the Third Impact with the same effort it takes to blink, to make a finger move. When they lose contact with Handong and Unit 01, Bora braces herself for the end. </p><p>(“<em>Why are you doing this?” </em> Gahyeon asks, tears streaming from her eyes. <em> “Why?”  </em></p><p><em> “Is the end not what you want, Lee Gahyeon?” </em>Handong’s voice is one of multitudes. </p><p>Gahyeon doesn’t reply, and she doesn’t know what to do except puncture a small wound into Handong’s chest. </p><p>A blinding light overtakes the entirety of central Dogma.</p><p>It means they’re safe. </p><p>Handong is alive. Gahyeon is safe. The world is intact. But this isn’t the end and Bora and Minji know it.) </p><p>It doesn’t come. </p><p>-</p><p>Gahyeon sits on the metal benches outside of Handong’s room. Bora sits beside her, the creaking of the wretched thing is their only company in the solitary hallway.</p><p>“I don’t want to pilot the Eva anymore.” </p><p>Bora doesn’t say anything, just holds Gahyeon as she cries. </p><p>-</p><p>Handong is recovering, her body healing from the otherworldly trauma to have the essence of a child of Adam in the body of a child of Lilith.  </p><p>She had failed, as the seventeenth Angel and the final one. Bora knows that means something. </p><p>Minji confirms it as soon as they’re home, and it feels like the quiet of the eye of the storm. “SEELE is planning the <em> Human Instrumentality Project,</em>” she says, a matter of fact, and elaborates when Bora stays quiet. “Meaning they’re using all of this to put all of the souls of mankind into one.” </p><p>She lets out a heavy sigh, digging the palms of her hands into her eyes. “So all this time they were on the Angels’ side, trying to destroy us all.” </p><p>To top all of that off, the Marduk Institute - the organization supposedly in charge of selecting the pilots - was a fluke. SEELE had been behind the pilot selections all this time. They knew exactly who they wanted.</p><p>“Yeah, they were using us.” Minji chokes out, and Bora holds her tighter. “These powerful people... <em>they were using us</em>.”</p><p>The statement is as heavy as the world on Bora's shoulders. Their lives, ruined by these unseen men. Their lives, pawns at their disposal. Minji details the plan she had uncovered from top-secret files, which entailed that all mass-produced Eva units, without any essence of the pilot’s mother, will be used.</p><p>SEELE, Gahyeon, and General Lee will be stored inside Unit-01. All this time, General Lee had been doing this to reunite with Dr. Lee, Gahyeon’s mother. The rest of the human race will be merged into one perfect, a deep red primordial river of unconscious souls.</p><p>Bora won't know what to do without Minji. She doesn't know what would happen if she can't be with Minji this way. </p><p>“Do you want to stop them?” </p><p>Minji nods. there are tears that fall from her eyes. “I don’t know how.” </p><p>She kisses her, wipes her tears away. “We’ll find a way,” Bora whispers fiercely into the skin of Minji’s forehead. “Nothing will keep us apart. Not even the end of the world. I’ll make sure of it.” </p><p>-</p><p>
  <em>
    <strong>24:00:00</strong>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>They do their routines, then kiss each other goodbye, before heading out to NERV.</p><p>Minji kisses her, and it feels like a farewell.</p><p>-</p><p>
  <em>
    <strong>18:42:33</strong>
  </em>
</p><p>(Minji types furiously on the computer, knowing the code like the back of her hand. Her mother had coded this, and she knew how the mind of her mother worked. </p><p>She digs deep, finds the lines that are going to stop all of this madness, stop it at once. Instrumentality is perfect - no pain, no suffering - but it is also selfish, not human at all. </p><p>She tries not to think about her own selfish reasons. She wants to live. She wants to be with Bora, marry her, start a family with her. She wants to see Gahyeon and Yubin and Siyeon, even Handong and Yoohyeon, grow up. </p><p>
  <em> Rejected. </em>
</p><p>“What?” Panic rises up her throat. “Mom, no! <em> Mom, you can’t do this.</em>” She presses ENTER persistently. <em> Rejected. Rejected. Rejected. </em> There are tears blurring her eyes, and the betrayal she feels is immense, so immense she doesn’t hear the door sliding open. </p><p>“Dr. Kim,” a voice says, and she turns around to see General Lee holding a gun, pointed at her chest. “Your mother would have wanted this.”) </p><p>-</p><p>
  <em>
    <strong>09:39:20</strong>
  </em>
</p><p>(Siyeon slips into the dummy plug and her sync rates are at a massive 100%. </p><p>She feels back in her old body, feels like she’s herself again. Too bad she’s about to die. </p><p>SEELE’s military-grade, mass-produced Evangelion units surround her, corner her, have their targets on her in the middle of the lake. </p><p>She thinks of Gahyeon, thinks of Yubin, thinks of Handong and Yoohyeon and Bora and Minji. They’re going to put an end to this. Siyeon needs to buy them time. The missile tears the Eva’s arms away. </p><p>It’s all worth it. </p><p>It’s her only thought, as the Eva takes more damage. She’s been a deadweight since she left, but now she takes it as the opportunity to redeem herself. </p><p><em> Protect them</em>, she says, now a torpedo to the Eva’s stomach and she feels it tear through her own skin.</p><p>“It’s been a good ride, huh?” She says, to Unit-02. Her mouth tastes like blood. “Let’s make it up to them.”</p><p>And she does. Unit-02 falls to its knees with a splash.) </p><p>-</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>03:03:20</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>(“Yubin,” General Lee says. “It’s time. Enter the Eva.” </p><p>Yubin looks at him, rage filling her, seeing her friends suffer. Minji was gone, Siyeon was gone. Handong was bedridden. Yoohyeon was in Tokyo-2, away from all of this. She knew SEELE were going after Bora and Gahyeon too. </p><p>“No,” she says adamantly, in the way she never has before. <em> I’m not your doll. </em>“I will not.”)</p><p>-</p><p>
  <em>
    <strong>00:10:11</strong>
  </em>
</p><p>They sprint out of Bora’s car, not even bothering to shut the doors closed, and into the building to keep Gahyeon safe. When <em>instrumentality </em>begins, she can call for Unit-01 and it’ll come to her beck and call.</p><p>She knows they’re on their trail, hot on their heels. Bora tries to pay no attention to them — her only goal was to get Gahyeon to safety. </p><p>The echoing of their steps on the concrete of the first basement is loud, and they’re almost at the emergency elevator to take them down to the Eva terminal, but the gunshots are louder. So loud that Bora doesn’t feel it piercing through her clothes and into the flesh of her back. </p><p>“Bora!” Gahyeon exclaims, but Bora can’t hear it, can’t hear anything except the ringing in her ears as the rest of her body loses all its ability to feel — save for the bullet in her skin making all her nerves scream. “Bora, Bora, no!” </p><p>She can’t let them get her, so Bora pushes Gahyeon into the small elevator, fit for two. She’ll only slow Gahyeon down at this rate.</p><p>SEELE’s military forces' footsteps are far enough, and because sometimes Bora can be selfish, so she takes a few moments with Gahyeon just for herself. </p><p>“It’s okay,” she smiles, tastes blood in her mouth. It’s probably staining her teeth, and Gahyeon cries harder. “It’s okay, kiddo. I promised to keep you alive… sometimes… this happens.” </p><p>“Bora, come with me,” Gahyeon pleads. “Don’t leave me, please…”<em> like everyone, </em>is unsaid. </p><p>“This is it for me, Gahyeon,” she breathes. “I’ll only —slow you down. You’re the only person that the Eva needs.” </p><p>“But I need you!” Gahyeon cries.</p><p>“You’ll be okay,” Bora laughs. It hurts like hell. “You’re a big girl.” </p><p>She punches the elevator button again, and a moment of panic arises. The screen secures Gahyeon inside and it’s only a matter of time before the main door closes. </p><p>Bora has been selfish enough. “Promise me, kiddo, alright?” Gahyeon’s still crying, so Bora continues. Some of her own blood stains Gahyeon’s cheeks. “You’ll get in that Eva… and make the right choice.”</p><p>“I promise.” Gahyeon nods and Bora loves her, that’s why she’s dying. </p><p>“When we get back,” she tries to get out, “we’ll go to Disneyland.” </p><p>The girl smiles, and the hurt in Bora’s heart is more painful than the bullet in her back. “You promise?” </p><p>“When have I ever,” she breathes, “broken my promises?” </p><p>Gahyeon wipes away her tears. “Never.” </p><p>The doors are about to close, and it’s time for Bora to say goodbye. “I’ll see you around, kiddo.” She tosses her cross necklace to Gahyeon, who catches it perfectly. She laughs, but it hurts. Oh, it hurt so much.</p><p>It closes, and Gahyeon is safe, for now. Another bullet to her back, and another. And then another. </p><p>Gahyeon is safe. Gahyeon is safe. Gahyeon is safe. </p><p>She vaguely hears footsteps approaching her, feels her blood leaking on the floor, drenching her cheek. </p><p>“Did I do the right thing, Minji?” Bora whispers to no one. She can’t talk anymore. It hurt too much. Her only comfort is that even at the very end, it's Gahyeon and Minji she sees in her last moments. <em>I'm</em><em> sorry it has to be this way. </em></p><p><em> We can try again, baby. We’ll have another shot, </em> Bora apologizes. <em> We can try again and again and again and again.  </em></p><p>The darkness takes over her eyes and then it’s all quiet.</p><p>-</p><p>
  <em>
    <strong>00:02:01</strong>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em> ‘Do you want to try again?’ Bora asked, during a quiet moment at the bridge. ‘Be my girlfriend. We’ll do it right this time.’ </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Minji laughed. ‘Again? When did that happen?’ When Bora nudged her to take her seriously with a pout she surely can’t resist, Minji moved in closer. ‘Okay, darling. I think we deserve it.’ </em>
</p><p>-</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <strong>00:00:00</strong>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>-</p><p>(Gahyeon sees the world in red. She sees everything merged into one. She sees perfection.</p><p><em> Look at this, </em>the sight before tempts her. <em> Look at what you can have. No sorrow, no pain, no isolation, no betrayal. Only perfection.  </em></p><p>
  <em> All you have to do is say yes.  </em>
</p><p>It is so lonely.</p><p>A world without Bora’s loud laugh, and her red jacket you can spot a mile away. Minji’s warmth, and her indignant huff whenever Gahyeon teases her. The immediate refuge that Siyeon’s embrace beholds. The subtle lifting of Yubin’s lips when she smiles. Yoohyeon’s relentless spirit, supporting them. Handong’s kind but piercing eyes, untouched by the essence of Adam. </p><p>Hurt is inevitable. Pain is, unfortunately, a part of the human experience. Loneliness can feel inescapable. </p><p>
  <em> Bora’s laugh. Minji’s warmth. Siyeon’s embrace. Yubin’s smile. Yoohyeon’s spirit. Handong’s intensity.  </em>
</p><p>The good parts outweigh the bad ones. It always does. The bloodstained cross pendant Bora had given her is a steady reminder. </p><p>Gahyeon opens her eyes, does what she does best, and says no.)</p><p>-</p><p>Disneyland is loud.</p><p>The crowd, the rides, the music blaring from the speakers. Bora takes it all in. She loves the way the sun warms her skin, the heat of Minji’s hand in her own. The cool band of silver around Minji’s finger is still a foreign - albeit welcome - feeling against her palm. </p><p>“Can we get some slushies?” Her wife pouts, and Bora can’t ever find it in herself to resist her even if they just ate a few minutes ago after the Space Mountain. When Bora says yes, she lets Minji drag her to the nearest vendor.</p><p>Bora sets down her bag and waits in line, the heat and the noise finally getting to her until it… doesn’t. </p><p>She feels the world stop around her. She knows she’s staring, but everything ceases its movement as she watches the girl seated on one of the tables in Bora’s plain sight.</p><p>“You know her?” Minji’s voice breaks her out of the trance. </p><p>The thing is, Bora doesn’t. But she feels like she does. Her face echoes deep within Bora, reaches inside her, and tries to shake her awake. Like she knows her, from somewhere and sometime in her life.</p><p>Then the girl looks directly at her, graces her with a single glance, meets her eyes. It shakes Bora in a way that she doesn’t understand. </p><p>“I don’t know,” Bora replies, bleakly. The girl looks away to talk to the people she’s with, also four people who look painfully familiar. It bothers her to no end, but she manages to order slushies for both of them even with the heaviness of their familiarity weighing on Bora. </p><p><em> Where have I seen them? </em> Bora thinks. <em> Why do I feel like I know them?  </em></p><p>It’s time to go, and for some reason, Bora doesn’t want to. They take their slushies and walk away, and Bora hopes the sinking feeling in her chest leaves soonest. </p><p>She sets her mind to rid herself of it, enjoy her honeymoon with her wife. Bora focuses on the cold cup of raspberry slush in her hand, Minji’s hand in the other, the noise of the park. </p><p>But she feels someone call out to her. It cuts through the park’s cacophony cleanly, like a newly sharpened knife. Bora <em>knows </em>that voice. “Miss!”</p><p>She looks back, and it’s the girl from awhile ago. It feels like a phantom punch to her stomach to have her this close and not recognize her. “You forgot this!” It’s her bag that she set down while they were queuing.</p><p>“Thanks, kid,” Bora says, biting her lip, and totally ignoring the look her wife sends her way for forgetting something as important as her bag - which was quite unlike Bora. “Got a name?” </p><p>She smiles, brightly, and it echoes within her - the familiarity, the brightness. “Lee Gahyeon.” </p><p>
  <em> Gahyeon…  </em>
</p><p>She notices the silver cross that hangs around Gahyeon’s neck. “I like your necklace. Where’d you get it?” </p><p>The smile turns into a knowing one, like a secret. “A friend.”</p><p>“Your friend has good taste.” Minji supplements, inspecting it as if it reminds her of something as well. Maybe she’s not the only one feeling it. </p><p>Gahyeon nods. “She does. I’ll get going, but it was nice seeing you.” </p><p><em> Nice seeing me? </em>The girl is already walking away, but Bora calls out to her. “Hey! Do we know each other?”</p><p>“Not really,” Gahyeon gives her a smile. It doesn’t reach her eyes. “I’ll see you around, though.” </p><p>Bora doesn’t have anything to say anymore except <em> I know you. I know you from somewhere. </em>“Oh. Okay. I’ll see you around.” </p><p>Then she’s gone. </p><p>But Bora knows she’ll see her again.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>thank you for listening to my misato!bora agenda</p></blockquote></div></div>
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